Congratulations to Margaret Murray on receiving UK award

Posted February 5, 2014

Congratulations to Margaret Murray on receiving an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for “services to music” in the 2014 UK New Year’s Honours List!

Margaret, founder of the Orff Society (Orff UK), has been at the forefront of the Orff movement in the UK for over 40 years. She worked closely with Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman to produce the English edition of Orff-Schulwerk: Music for Children (1958-66). From 1963 Margaret presented Orff courses throughout the UK, South Africa, Australia and the USA, and in 1965 she initiated and led the first English-speaking Summer Course at the Orff Institute, Salzburg. She has provided countless translations of all the important documents relating to the work of Carl Orff and the Schulwerk, an achievement that is highly respected world-wide.

The New Year’s Honours List is published on 31st December every year in The Times newspaper, UK. The awards result from a group of people (colleagues and friends) who recommend one person for their services in a particular area. A collective statement is sent to the Cabinet Office, where it is decided whether the application is appropriate and worthy. There are many different awards including MBE, OBE, CBE. Those awarded are invited to Buckingham Palace to receive the medal that represents this award.

Although the collective statement definitely included many references to Margaret’s work with Orff-Schulwerk, it was not mentioned in the award. Margaret has written about the contribution of her colleagues and friends in the UK and abroad. She would like them to know and realize that “if I have had some success it has been very much indebted so often to what I have learned from them! They are very much entitled to, and I would like them to feel, some share in my award.”